SV@Home is proud to be a community partner to the Latina Coalition’s Engaged Latina Leadership Activist (ELLA) Program. We are delighted to be part of the leadership journey for Karen, Diana, Nicole, and Karina! Read on to learn more about their work.
SV@Home is proud to be a community partner to the Latina Coalition’s Engaged Latina Leadership Activist (ELLA) Program! The 6-month ELLA Program cultivates the potential of Latinas between the ages of 19-29, providing opportunities to learn and gain leadership and civic engagement skills through professional activities, resources and mentoring, with local and statewide impact. The program has graduated more than 280 Latina women over the last 16 years!
The team of ELLA participants partnering with SV@Home is focused on empowering Latinas through economic stability and housing justice. As part of this work, they are supporting some of SV@Home’s Affordable Housing Month educational programming, creating new written content on the housing needs of Santa Clara County’s agricultural workers for SV@Home’s website, and joining our team as we meet with local elected officials.
Meet the Cohort:
Karen Mestizo is the Youth and Young Adult Initiatives Lead within Santa Clara County’s Continuum of Care, where they collaborate with young leaders with lived experience of homelessness to drive meaningful change in the community. Their work focuses on reducing barriers to participation, fostering leadership opportunities, leading special initiatives, and ensuring lived experience youth voices are included in the decision-making in the County of Santa Clara’s supportive housing system. They hold a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Community Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
As a first-generation Mexican American, Karen is passionate about fostering a strong sense of community. They deeply value resilience, family, and collective support—principles modeled by their parents and grandparents, who overcame poverty by building businesses in the U.S. and harvesting and raising animals in Mexico.
Diana Guardado, Program Associate for Racial and Health Equity Strategy at Berkeley Media Studies Group, provides strategic communication support to groups working to advance racial and health equity. She thrives on crafting compelling narratives that resonate with diverse audiences and enjoys the challenge of turning complex issues into clear, actionable messages. Previously, she served as Communications Manager at the Hope and Heal Fund, where she led strategic efforts to reframe firearm violence as a public health issue in California. With expertise in media relations, project management, and advocacy, Diana has worked on political campaigns and advocacy initiatives, developing narratives that drive meaningful change. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and public policy from Menlo College.
Nicole Arshad is a Government and Community Affairs Specialist at the San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans), where she helps lead public outreach efforts for major transportation projects across San Mateo County. She develops and executes outreach plans, collaborates with Communications on strategic messaging, and engages stakeholders through public events, campaigns, and community partnerships.
As a proud Chilean and Iranian American, and a first-generation college graduate, she is passionate about elevating historically underrepresented voices and creating space for meaningful civic participation. Her work is grounded in values of justice, empathy, and cultural pride – principles instilled by her family’s intergenerational resilience and entrepreneurial spirit.
Karina Solano is a College and Career Specialist with the Eastside Education Initiative. She is committed to supporting East San Jose students and families by helping them explore college and career pathways through education and community engagement. She holds a B.A. in Sociology with minors in Public Affairs and Community Engagement & Social Change from the University of California, Los Angeles.
As a proud daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico, she was raised in East San Jose and is deeply committed to advocating for marginalized communities. She is a passionate advocate for housing and education policy, focused on reducing disparities for low-income communities.
We are delighted to be part of the leadership journey for Karen, Diana, Nicole, and Karina!